Social Witness Policy by Topic
ACSWP Social Witness Policy
This list of ACSWP policies is organized by categories that link to subpages with policy descriptions and instructions for downloading or ordering each policy. The list contains many but not all of ACSWP’s policies and there is intentional repetition in the categories at several points. Additionally, the Racial Equity Advisory Committee (REAC) and the Advisory Committee for Women and Gender Justice (ACWGJ) also develop policies and studies.
For more information about ACSWP policies, please contact acswp@pcusa.org.
Topics
These resources provide a foundation for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s social policy witness and summarizes the Committee’s work. This also includes policies that provide a general social witness.
These policies address topics including restorative justice, capital punishment, for-profit private prisons, gun violence, torture, and the international criminal court.
- Gun Violence, Gospel Values: Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call (2010)
- Resolution Against Torture: Human Rights in a Time of Terrorism (2006)
- Resolution Calling for the Abolition of For-Profit Private Prisons (2003)
- Resolution on Restorative Justice (2002)
- Resolution on International Criminal Court (1999)
- Moratorium on Capital Punishment (2000)
These policies address threats to democracy, voting rights, electoral and campaign finance reform, public education, and a Presbyterian and Reformed understanding of patriotism.
- Lift Every Voice: Democracy, Voting Rights and Electoral Reform (2022)
- Democracy – Honest Patriotism – 2018
- Election Protection and Integrity in Campaign Finance ACSWP (2016)
- Loving our Neighbors: Equity and Quality in Public Education (K-12) (2010)
- Lift Every Voice: Democracy, Voting Rights, and Electoral Reform (2008)
- “A Letter to Presbyterians”: The PC(USA) 1953 General Council Challenge to McCarthyism (1953)
These policies speak to globalization, environmental care, food and water supply issues, extractive industries, energy policies, global warming, climate change, and the restoration and protection of Creation.
- Investing in a Green Future: A Vision for a Renewed Creation (2022)
- The Precautionary Principle: Managing Technological Risks to Protect Humanity and our Planet (2018)
- The Power to Change – U.S. Energy Policy and Global Warming (2008)
- Report and Recommendations on Limited Water Resources and Takings with Study Guide (2004)
- Globalization and the Environment – A Study Paper (2003)
- We Are What We Eat (2002)
- Hazardous Waste, Race, and the Environment (1995)
- Restoring Creation for Ecology & Justice (1990)
- The Power to Speak Truth to Power (1981)
These policies address the church’s witness related to the call for strategic boycotts, corporate divestment and the US government’s practice of imposing sanctions.
- Tax Justice: A Christian Response to a Second Gilded Age (2014)
- World of Hurt, Word of Life: Renewing God’s Communion in the Work of Economic Reconstruction (2012)
- Living Through Economic Crisis: The Church’s Witness in Troubled Times (2010)
- Just Global Discipleship: A Mission Trip Preparation Guide for Students and Young Adults (2010)
- Selected Social Witness Policies on Work as Vocation, Unions, and Collective Bargaining (1959-2008)From the Presbyterian Social Policy Compilation
- Resolution on Just Globalization, Justice, Ownership, and Accountability (2006)
- A Reformed Understanding of Usury in the Twenty-First Century (2006)
- Globalization and the Environment – A Study Paper (2003)
- Globalization and Culture – A Study Paper (2003)
- The Employment Effects of Free Trade and Globalization – A Study Paper (2001)
- The Globalization of Economic Life: Challenge to the Church – A Study Paper (2001)
- Hope for a Global Future: Toward Just and Sustainable Human Development (1996)
- The Church: Responding to Rural America (1991) and Rural Community in Crisis (1985) – A Study Paper
These policies address matters of pay equity, just compensation, and fairness in ministerial compensation.
These policies address the church’s witness related to the call for strategic boycotts, corporate divestment, and the U.S. government’s practice of imposing sanctions.
- Resolution on Sanctions (2022)
- Divestment from corporations supporting the occupation of Palestine (2014; Joint Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment)
- Call to Boycott Products from Israeli Settlements (2012)
- The Divestment Strategy: Principles and Criteria (1984)
- Divestment from major military, nuclear warhead, tobacco, and other firms: (1982, subsequent revisions, constituting a social investment screen)
- Boycotts: Policy Analysis and Criteria (1979)
This consensus statement produced by a National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., was approved by 35 Protestant and Orthodox communions, including the PC(USA). It is available in Korean, English, and Spanish along with additional resources. (Led by PC[USA]; consensus statement by National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.)
These policies address a range of topics, including child abuse, domestic violence, changing families, pornography, gambling, contraception and abortion, aging, end-of-life issues, elder care, and elder abuse.
- Abiding Presence (2016)
- Anti-Corporal Punishment Resolution (2012)
- Economic Security for Older Adults (2006)
- Resolution on Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse Against Educators (2004)
- Transforming Families (2004)
- Resolution on the Ministry of Caregiving in Relation to Older Adults (2001)
- Turn Mourning Into Dancing! A Policy Statement on Healing Domestic Violence and Study Guide (2001)
- Pornography: Far From The Song of Songs (1988)
- Gambling — summary of resources (1935-1996)
- The Covenant of Life and The Caring Community & Covenant and Creation: Theological Reflections on
- Contraception and Abortion (1983; biomedical ethics)
- Rights and Responsibilities of Older Persons (1973)
These policies address a range of topics, including substance abuse, drug treatment, the “war on drugs,” drug reform, reproductive health, HIV and AIDS, mental health, homelessness, universal health care, and the health insurance industry.
- Guide for Mental Health Ministry (2024)
- Putting Healing Before Punishment (2018)
- Initial Drug Reform Report Approved by GA (2016)
- Resolution on Reproductive Health (2012)
- Becoming an HIV and AIDS Competent Church: Prophetic Witness and Compassionate Action (2010)
- Comfort my People: A Policy Statement on Serious Mental Illness (2008)
- From Homelessness to Hope: Constructing Just, Sustainable Communities for All God’s People (2008)
- Living Into the Body of Christ: Towards Full Inclusion of People with Disabilities (2006)
- Resolution on Advocacy on Behalf of the Uninsured (2002)
- Freedom and Substance Abuse (1993)
- Resolution on Christian Responsibility and A National Medical Plan (1991)
- Life Abundant: Values, Choices, and Health Care (1988)
- Alcohol Use & Abuse – Social and Health Effects (1986)
These policies provide human rights updates in a variety of global contexts. They also address issues including human trafficking, sexual violence in the military, torture, for-profit prisons, restorative justice, and the International Criminal Court.
- Human Trafficking Human Rights: Children of God, Not for Sale (2016)
- Human Trafficking Statement of Concern ACSWP and ACWC (2016)
- Sexual Violence in the U.S. Military: A Human Rights Update (2014)
- Human Rights Update 2012 (2012)
- Human Rights Update 2010 (2010)
- Report on Human Rights in Colombia (2008)
- Resolution Against Torture: Human Rights in a Time of Terrorism (2006)
- Human Rights Update 2003-2004 (2003/2004)
- Resolution Calling for the Abolition of For-Profit Private Prisons (2003)
- Human Rights Update 2002-2003 (2002-2003)
- Resolution on Restorative Justice (2002)
- Resolution on the International Criminal Court (1999)
These policies address issues including the welcoming of new immigrants and the legalization of immigrants residing in the U.S.
These policies address specific global contexts to which the church has spoken, including situations of war, violence, conflict, military occupation, political corruption, anti-democratic activities, and human rights violations.
- Seeking Hope Amid Despair in Central America (2022)
- Jerusalem 3, 2, 1: Three Faiths, Two Peoples, One Human Family (2022)
- Afghanistan: A Time to Mend (2022)
- Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace (2016)
- Study Guide for Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace (2016)
- New Hopes and Realities in Cuban American Relations: A ‘Neuvo Momento’ (2016)
- Resolution on Equal Rights for All Inhabitants of Israel and Palestine, and for Conversations with Prophetic Voices (2014)
- Western Sahara: Occupied, Non-Self-Governing Territory and Test Case for International Law (2014)
- For Human Rights and Civic Freedom: Movements for Democratic Change in the Arab World (2012)
- Breaking Down the Walls Middle East Report & Supplement (2010 & 2012)
- To Repent, to Restore, to Rebuild, and to Reconcile – A Study Paper on Costly Lessons of the Iraq War (2008)
- On Building Peace in Iraq (2008) – resolution goes with study paper above
- Report on Human Rights in Colombia (2008)
- Resolution on Africa: A Study Guide and Reflection (2005)
- Iraq: Our Responsibility and the Future (2004)
- Resolution on the Middle East (1997)
These policies promote the church’s peacemaking ministries and addresses topics including violence, war, nuclear weapons, drones and surveillance, terrorism, international intervention, and humanitarian rescue.
- Risking Peace in a Violent World: Five New Peacemaking Affirmations (2016)
- Risking Peace in a Violent World (2014)
- Drones, War & Surveillance (2014)
- Peace Discernment Interim Report – Encountering the Gospel of Peace Anew: An Invitation to Discernment and Witness (2012)
- On Strengthening the Peacemaking Program (2010)
- Resolution on Violence, Religion, and Terrorism (2004)
- Resolution on Just Peacemaking and the Call for International Intervention for Humanitarian Rescue (1998)
- Christian Obedience in a Nuclear Age (1988)
- Peacemaking: The Believers’ Calling (1980)
- GA Policies on Vietnam
These policies include those that address racism, urban ministry, gender-based injustice and exploitation, and, sexual harassment and abuse.
- Race, Reparative Justice and the PC(USA) (2022)
- City Churches: Conviction, Conversation, and Call to Action (2016)
- The Gospel from Detroit: Renewing the Church’s Urban Vision (2014)
- God’s Work in Women’s Hands: Pay Equity and Just Compensation (2008)
- From Homelessness to Hope: Constructing Just, Sustainable Communities for All God’s People (2008)
- Building Community Among Strangers: A Report on Racism, Social Class Divisions, Sex-based Injustices, and Religious Intolerance and Conflict (1999)
- Hearing the Silence Healing the Pain Sexual Abuse in the Church (1993)
- Violations Against the Image of God Exploitation of Women 1986
- Naming the Unnamed Sexual Harassment in the Church (1982)
- Dignity and Exploitation Christian Reflections on Images of Sex in the 1970s (1974)
These policies address religious freedom, the role of conscience in the Christian faith, and an understanding of politics in the reformed faith.
These policies speak to violence and terrorism and to the pandemic of gun violence.
- Gun Violence: An action of the 225th General Assembly (2022)
- Gun Violence, Gospel Values: Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call (2010)
- Resolution on Violence, Religion, and Terrorism (2004)
- Faithful Living in a Time of Violence and Terrorism – A Study Guide on the Resolution on Violence, Religion and Terrorism (2004)